Seniors suffer over high rents in Burlington

A week ago a Spectator headline proclaimed 'Rent hikes limited to 2.9%
next year'. But many Burlington
seniors who are tenants know it's the fine
print that kills you.

Some
Burlington landlords have applied for huge capital increases in
recent years. Rents in the building on the northeast corner of Maple and
Lakeshore rose 9.91 per cent in 2002, and will rise 8.91 in 2003 -- 19.7
per cent compounded in two years. Earlier applications had resulted in
substantial hikes, too. One tenant who paid under $500 in 1991 will pay
over $1,000 per month in 2003 for a two-bedroom unit. During those 12
years, the allowable guideline increase was 49.43 per cent, but the
tenant's rent rose 105 per cent.

Sure, landlords can only increase rents by 2003's 2.9-per-cent guideline
without applying to the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal.. Some applications
are virtually assured of approval, though, even without a hearing. These
include extraordinary hikes in taxes, heat or utilities.

A landlord is entitled to recoup inordinate increases. But spikes are
often short-lived. In 2000-2001, natural gas costs jumped about 70 per
cent, then dropped to 1999 levels. The 1997
Tenant Protection Act
allows rent increases to go on top of this inflated amount, but the "one-time"
hike never comes off. It becomes part of the base on which annual
increases are calculated.

More worrisome are applications for capital costs. Landlords can do
renovations, improvements, even cosmetic enhancements, and apply to recoup
costs from tenants. The legislation defines a capital expenditure as one
that provides benefit for at least one year. Tenants argue some capital
costs being claimed constitute routine maintenance, and maintenance is
covered in the annual guideline increase. If a landlord refinances at a
lower interest rate, tenants do not reap the benefit.

Moving is expensive. Affordable apartments are rare for cash-strapped
seniors because vacant units can be rented for whatever the market will
bear. If tenants stay they face a 2.9 per cent hike in 2003, but the
landlord could also apply for a much bigger increase.

Every October the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation issues a report
on rents and vacancy rates. In the 2001 report, Burlington had the highest
apartment rents, and lowest vacancy rate in the Hamilton census area,
which includes Hamilton, Dundas, Stoney Creek and Glanbrook. Its vacancy
rate was 0.3 per cent, compared to 1.3 per cent area-wide. The average
two-bedroom rent in Burlington was $878, compared to a $740 average in the
area, one-bedroom was $791 versus $608, and a three-bedroom $1,052 versus $913.

Rents are so high today that young Toronto tenants are buying condos for
comparable monthly costs. High-end vacancies take longer to fill, so
Toronto landlords are offering incentives to new tenants. But that does
not help Burlington tenants.

Seniors with limited pensions find it particularly difficult when a spouse
dies and they face the hardship of a reduced Canada pension and old age
security income.

Next month's 2002 release of rent statistics by CMHC will likely show a
higher Burlington vacancy rate, only because high-end units sit vacant
longer. Meantime, some seniors and lower income-earners are being squeezed
out, and are leaving the community because of steep rents.

{The remaining two paragraphs of this article are about
cottages and a highway and not relevant to tenants and so have been snipped}

Former Burlington alderman and Halton councillor Joan Little is a
freelance columnist. She does not identify with any political party. Her
views are her own.